It is known to provide bottles (for water, soda or other liquids) with a closing arrangement (or cap) that is formed with a protruding nozzle that enables the user to conveniently pour the liquid via the nozzle into the mouth while the lips enclose the nozzle. The nozzle has thus one of many openings at its edge portion that communicates with the inside of the closing arrangement and the bottle. The closing arrangement has means for blocking the openings of the nozzle.
It is also known to provide the closing arrangement with a straw that extends into the bottle, preferably to the bottom area.
If both such pouring nozzle and telescope straw are provided on the closing arrangement there is a risk that the straw makes the user more difficult to reach the nozzle and vice versa.
It is also desirable for the above-mentioned type of closing arrangement to integrate a manually operated spray pump including a spray nozzle to make it possible to direct the spray of the liquid in the bottle radially out from the body of the closing arrangement relative to the lengthwise direction of the bottle neck.
For practical reasons the spray pump has an activation button that is axially operable and is directed substantially parallel to the bottle neck. The button is exposed to the free upper end of the closing arrangement and may be affected by a finger (index finger) of the hand that is holding the bottle and/or the closing arrangement. However, a drawback is that the spray may inadvertently be directed towards the user's hand that holds the bottle/closing arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,873 (to Lan) discloses a dispensing system for simultaneously dispensing a liquid from a mouth controlled port and an ejection port. The mouth controlled port is a drinking straw extruding from the side of a body connected to a container. The ejection port is a triggering spray head connected to the top of the body. This system allows a user to either receive a spray of liquid for cooling or a stream of water for drinking through the straw. However, this system does not offer a pouring mechanism for the user to pour the liquid out from the container without taking out the closing arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,034 (to Walthers) discloses a dual-function sports bottle that has one liquid carrying container nested within another for carrying a drinking liquid in a relatively large outer chamber that can be accessed by using a straw that extends through an off-center opening, and for carrying a spraying liquid in a relatively small inner chamber that can accessed by using a manually operated spray assembly. Similar to Lan's dispensing system, this bottle does not offer a pouring mechanism for the user to pour the liquid out from the container without taking out the closing arrangement.
Therefore, it is desirable to have an improved multifunctional bottle cap which enables incorporation of a drinking straw, a spray mechanism, and a nozzle for pouring out liquid, but overcomes the problems associated with the integration of these different structural components into one single cap or closing arrangement.